Petition to Probate a Will Requirements in Idaho

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Informal application or formal petition

Idaho's district court handles both routes. An informal filing is a verified application to a magistrate or judge acting as registrar. A formal filing is litigation by an interested person seeking a court order after notice and hearing. Idaho Code § 15-3-107 permits probate and appointment requests to be combined, while § 15-3-401 says formal probate need not include appointment.

Venue is the county of domicile at death. For a person domiciled elsewhere, any Idaho county containing the decedent's property may hear the first case. If the first proceeding was informal and another county is proper, § 15-3-201(c) permits transfer after notice to the proponent.

Filing facts and the will

Idaho Code § 15-3-301 requires the informal applicant's interest; the decedent's death, age, and domicile; reasonably ascertainable spouse, children, heirs, and devisees, including minor ages; nonresident venue; existing representatives; notice demands; and timeliness. Will probate adds original status, execution and revocation beliefs, and last-will belief. A combined appointment application adds the proposed appointee's name, address, and priority.

The informal original-probate route requires the original already with the court or accompanying the application. A certified copy is stated only for a will already probated elsewhere. Formal probate likewise ordinarily uses the original in court or attached to the petition. If neither is true and no authenticated foreign-probate copy accompanies the petition, § 15-3-402(b) requires the will's contents and a lost, destroyed, or otherwise-unavailable explanation.

Delivery and outside limit

A will custodian must act after death without waiting for a request. Idaho Code § 15-2-902 requires delivery “with reasonable promptness” to someone able to secure probate or, if no such person is known, an appropriate court. It sets no fixed number of days but supplies damages and contempt consequences for willful noncompliance.

The ordinary outside limit is three years after death. Idaho Code § 15-3-108 lists the tardy routes: a prior proceeding dismissed because death was doubtful, the estate of an absent or missing protected person, and a contest filed within the later of 12 months after informal probate or three years after death. No broader no-prior-proceeding exception appears in the section's listed late routes.

Proof

For informal probate, an apparently signed will with an attestation clause showing statutory execution may be admitted without further proof. Otherwise the registrar may presume execution from the document or accept a sworn statement or affidavit from any knowledgeable person, even a nonwitness (§ 15-3-303(c)).

Under Idaho Code § 15-3-405, an unopposed formal case may be decided on the pleadings. If execution evidence is needed, one attesting witness's affidavit or testimony is enough, with other evidence available if witness proof is unavailable. In a contested case, at least one competent, available in-state attesting witness must testify when proof of a non-self-proved attested will is necessary. A self-proved will instead receives the signature and execution presumptions in § 15-3-406(b), subject to fraud or forgery.

Notice and objections

Informal probate does not require general advance service. Idaho Code § 15-3-306 requires notice only to a person who demanded it and to an existing personal representative whose appointment remains in effect.

Formal probate requires a scheduled hearing. Notice reaches the spouse, children, other heirs, devisees and executors named in relevant wills, an unterminated representative, and demandants (§ 15-3-403). Ordinary § 15-1-401 notice uses mail or personal delivery at least 14 days before hearing. Publication for three weeks, with the last publication at least 10 days before hearing, is the route only when an identity or address is unknown and cannot be found with reasonable diligence. An opponent states the objections in the pleadings (§ 15-3-404).

Nominee, qualification, bond, and letters

The person given priority by a probated will ranks first. A person under 18 is unqualified, and a court may find a person unsuitable in a formal proceeding (§ 15-3-203).

Before letters, the appointee files any required bond and a statement accepting the duties, with an oath to perform them according to law. Informal appointments ordinarily need no bond unless a stated exception applies. Idaho Code § 15-3-603 provides that in formal proceedings the court may order bond at appointment; a will waiver generally controls unless an interested party requests bond and the court finds it desirable (§§ 15-3-601, 15-3-603). Appointment and filing alone do not create authority: § 15-3-103 also requires qualification and issuance of letters.

What trips people up

Five days is an informal-probate wait, not a universal petition rule. Idaho Code § 15-3-302 conditions the registrar's written informal statement on five days having elapsed. The formal-probate sections instead prescribe a petition, notice, and hearing.

An ordinary copy is not the original-probate route stated in the code. Idaho distinguishes the original, a certified or authenticated copy of a will already probated elsewhere, and a formal petition explaining a lost, destroyed, or unavailable original.

A future-effective definitions amendment is already displayed. The official § 15-1-201 page carries current and January 1, 2027 versions. The definitions used on this page—application, court, formal and informal proceeding, interested person, letters, petition, and testacy proceeding—remain the same.

Common questions

Does every formal probate require newspaper publication?

No. Idaho Code § 15-1-401(3) uses publication when a person's identity or address is unknown and cannot be ascertained with reasonable diligence. Known people may receive mail or personal delivery at least 14 days before the hearing.

Can an interested person demand bond?

Yes. Idaho Code § 15-3-605 permits a written demand by an apparently interested person or creditor whose interest or claim exceeds $1,000. Once required, failure to provide suitable bond within 30 days after notice is cause for removal.

Statutes and sources

• Idaho Code §§ 15-1-201 and 15-1-401 — definitions, district court, and hearing-notice methods.
• Idaho Code §§ 15-2-902, 15-3-103, 15-3-107, and 15-3-108 — custodian delivery, letters, combined proceedings, and outside limit.
• Idaho Code §§ 15-3-201 and 15-3-203 — venue, appointment priority, and qualification.
• Idaho Code §§ 15-3-301 to 15-3-306 — informal contents, timing, original, proof, and notice.
• Idaho Code §§ 15-3-401 to 15-3-406 — formal petition, hearing, notice, objections, and proof.
• Idaho Code §§ 15-3-601 and 15-3-603 to 15-3-605 — acceptance, oath, and bond.

All quoted sections are from the official Idaho Legislature statute pages, accessed 2026-08-08.